The Only Choice
by Song Of Hope
Summary: Post Promised Day - General Grumman asks to meet Mustang to talk about his retirement, and about Mustang stepping up to fill his shoes. Changes will have to be made, and he'll have to face a choice. Or was it really like that after all? Well, even if it was, there was only ever one choice that he could make. A Royai fic


**Song Of Hope: Finally wrote a fic for FMA:B, and what do you know? It's my favorite ship Royai! This is actually mostly background for another fic I'm already planning, about 5 years after the Promised Day. Recently binged a ton of FMA content so yeah :D R &R**

On a bright sunny day in Central, an important chess game was going on in the office of the Fuhrer. Pawn after pawn went forward, sacrificing each other and being taken off the board to protect the more powerful pieces. It was a game of strategy fondly played by the Fuhrer, one he knew he was very good at.

Until with the right move his queen was snatched from under him, earning the offender a chuckle.

"You've certainly gotten better General Mustang," noted Fuhrer Grumman as he moved his bishop. "Well done."

"You've taught me well," replied the general with a smile as he used his own queen to take out one of Grumman's rooks. "After so many years of being unable to defeat you, I'm finally starting a winning streak."

"Yes, you seem to have fixed your habit of trying to claim victory too early," Grumman agreed as he moved his king away. "It's a good skill to have for someone with your ambitions."

"I'm surprised you still invite me over so often when you know I'm vying for your office," Mustang chuckled. "It's been a long time since you've asked me to come to Central since you put me in charge of Eastern Command." He smirked, moving his queen forward. "Checkmate."

"You always were fond of that particular move, protecting your queen as fiercely as possible and using her to end the battle," said Grumman with a laugh. "That's actually what I wanted to talk about. Not a queen persay, but it is related to this. That and I wanted you to be the first to know that after 5 years, I'm retiring from the office of Fuhrer."

"What?" Mustang couldn't help but be a little surprised by the revelation, considering the fact that his mentor in the military had been vying for the position for as long as he could remember knowing the man.

"Shocking I know," Grumman chuckled. "Believe me, this isn't my idea nor what I wanted. However, I haven't been given any choice. Apparently, I've developed a heart condition. Now, it's not too severe at the moment, but stress will cause my heart to wear out sooner. If I retire now, I can still live another good 10, maybe 15 years. As much as I want to rebuild this country, I won't do much good in a coffin. Besides that, I want the Fuhrer's office, but I'd rather have a longer life much more. I'm doing what I can to get the government to appoint you as the next Fuhrer of the military, but you're going to have to make some concessions in order to make this work." A woman came in with some snacks and drinks of a cart. Grumman smiled and motioned next to the table. "Leave it there dear." She nodded and walked out as Grumman looked at Mustang. "So what do you say General Mustang? It's either you or Miss General Armstrong, but you're my first choice since the Fuhrer's office is tough, but needs at least a little mercy and I'm not entirely sure if General Armstrong is capable of that. However, I am ready to ask her to visit from Briggs and talk about her maybe giving some concessions as well."

"I'm honored sir," Mustang said with an honest smile as he picked up a tea cup, "and whatever you need me to do I'll be happy to do it."

"For one thing, you're going to have to stop your fake dating," he said as he set the chess board back up. "There is no one the people will trust less than a womanizer, aside from actual criminals. I know you aren't and your lieutenants know you aren't, but you've spent years building up this persona in order to make yourself seem less threatening as you slowly climbed your way up to the top in order for your superiors to not take you as seriously as a threat to their positions, and it worked. It's served its purpose, now it's time to put it to rest."  
"Fair enough," Mustang replied, taking a sip of his tea before placing the cup back on the saucer he was holding. "You have a point. There's no use pretending. Who knows, maybe Havoc will stop whining that I get all the women."

"That brings me to my second point," said Grumman as he carefully inspected Mustang's queen before holding it up. "You're going to need to find yourself your own queen, or your wife." That caused Mustang to spit out his drink, sputtering heavily and coughing.

"Excuse me?!" He wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Fuhrer Grumman, that hardly seems to be the appropriate way to talk to someone. Besides that what's the point of a wedding or marriage? It's just an expensive ceremony and a piece of paper."

"But a big ceremony can often show devotion," Grumman replied. "The bigger the better in your case, to bring attention to the end of your false womanizing. Heck, I may have been in the same predicament as you if what happened hadn't happened. I'm an old man, it was long too late for me to get married, and besides that they had no other choice for Fuhrer, at least not any real choice. General Armstrong and I were the only high ranking officers left after the coup revealed the truth of the government, and I was the elder and more experienced of us. They really didn't have much of a choice. But now, for the past 5 years, we've been rebuilding. There are plenty of military men and women who could make it to the Fuhrer's position, and I want it to be you, but they're not going to look at you twice with your reputation, even if you did save the country. Even if you give up the act, that doesn't mean they won't think you're womanizer still. The best way to do that is to get married to someone you're devoted to." Grumman grinned. "We all know there's only one choice for something like that. Besides, you've already lost out to Edward Elric. I heard he got married the spring before last and that they have an infant son now. Few months old and already walking."

"A young boy that they named Maes," said Mustang. "Apparently it was Winry's idea. I think that Lieutenant Hughes would've approved."

"I thought you were going to have a young one running around with that name by now," grinned Grumman. "You two were very close, but not as close as yourself and another of your former Lieutenants."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Mustang as he stood up. "Excuse me but I'm needed back at Eastern HQ. I am in charge of the rebuild of Ishval after all. I can only step away from that to play chess oh so long."

"You always use you duties to get out of uncomfortable social situations," Grumman chuckled. "Alright, there should be a train departing soon for East HQ, but it's leaving in an hour."

"You were expecting this weren't you," sighed out Mustang. "Of course you were, you always do look ahead."

"If you find a lovely young woman to marry, let me know." Grumman stood up and reach a hand out, shaking Mustang's. "Or a young man. You know I don't judge. I know that there's probably only one girl on your mind, but I've been known to be wrong every once in a while. However, I doubt I'm wrong on this."

"Now's not the time for jokes Fuhrer," glared Mustang as he shook Grumman's hand and started to walk away, exiting the room. "That damn old man is loosing his mind, saying things like that to me."

* * *

Mustang stepped off a train at Eastern command, sighing as he looked towards a group of people with a smile. His eyes settled on one particular person, a woman with blonde hair whose stars and stripes showed her rank as a Brigadier General. She was firm in her posture, saluting as Mustang walked towards her.

"Good to see you again Brigadier General Hawkeye," said Mustang as he came up to her. "How has command been while I've been gone?"

"Fairly well," she replied. "Havoc made a scene with a new recruit again. Shot him down in no time flat."

"I see," he chuckled, walking towards the exit with her following him. "Anything else?"

"No sir," she replied with a shake of her head. "What about you? What did my grandfather want to see you for?"

"He wants me to become the next Fuhrer," Mustang replied as he opened the door, looking for a car outside. "I don't want to discuss anything further so publicly though. Who's driving us back?"

"Fuery offered," she replied, "but right now he's got more important matters, such as trying to deal with his new duties and watch Black Hayate while I came to get you, so I was assigned a normal military driver to come and pick you up. First Lieutenant Breda will be there when we arrive at Eastern Command to give you an update on what you've missed in the past few days."

"I see." He hummed a little in thought. "I suppose we'll have to wait until we're back at my office to talk about this situation more in depth."

* * *

Riza stood in front of his desk while he sat down with a sigh, slumping into his chair.

"Much better," he sighed out. "My back just isn't used to the kinds of chairs they use in Central anymore."

"You said you needed some privacy to talk about this," Riza reminded him. "What else exactly did Fuhrer Grumman tell you?"

"He told me I would need to do two things to secure my position as Fuhrer," chuckled Mustang. "The first one wasn't so bad, and in fact it _had_ been part of my plans. He knew all of my flirting and sneaking around was just an act. He's known about Madam Christmas from the very beginning, and how Elizabeth was a fake. Somewhere in the back of my mind I already knew all of this, but hearing him tell me to drop the act confirmed it. Of course, we all knew it would serve no purpose in the office of the Fuhrer, as its only purpose was to keep suspicion off of the team from the higher ups whenever it suited us. Now though, it'd only be a detriment."

"Quite right," agreed Riza with a nod. "There's something more to this story though, isn't there?"

"The most ridiculous thing." Mustang crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed. "He said that I was going to have to get married. He even wants me to make a big ceremony out of it to show that I'm truly ending my false ways, and I am one hundred percent positive that's a load of bull."

"I see," she replied, frowning. "And what exactly are your thoughts on marriage?"

"An unnecessary add on to an already functional relationship," he replied. "At least the ceremony itself. Now, being married on paper and having maybe a small, quite and intimate ceremony with friends can be enjoyable and I can see why Fullmetal did it, but on the other hand there's nothing wrong with not getting married. Frankly, I don't see anything wrong with quiet, private devotion between two people. They already understand each other, why do they need to make that public?"

"I can see why you'd say that," said Riza, "but if this will help you get the Fuhrer's seat, then I suppose the person you ask to marry you would be completely onboard with it. I'm sure whichever lucky girl you decide to bring on this endeavor with you would be happy to do that with you."

"You talk as if there isn't only one and only choice for who I'd want by my side like this," he chuckled. "For a long time whenever my thoughts did drift to that part of my future, there's really only been one person in my mind. I never imagined any sort of a domestic situation mind you, she's not that kind of person. Well, sometimes I think she would be if I asked, but I'd never do that to her. But I have thought about maybe a couple of kids and us raising them right, although I'm afraid she might discipline them the same way she disciplines her animals. It doesn't matter though. She's fiercely loyal, incredibly brave, and the most beautiful woman I've ever met. Oh yes, if I do have to go this route, then if she's willing to it'd only be with her."

"Are you sure," asked Riza with a small smile. "Once she's in the position of wife of the Fuhrer, there's no telling what she'll be doing."

"She won't just be the Fuhrer's wife," said Mustang with a smirk. "She's too brilliant to let waste in a house. No, she'll be placed as a general in charge of Central Command, right underneath me, right where I have always needed her. She does well in positions of leadership, and who knows, maybe one day she can be Fuhrer if something happens. She is fully and completely my equal, even if our ranks don't denote that."

"Except we both know that she won't let it happen and would rather be assigned to the personal protection detail instead," Riza said sharply with a glare. "Placing her somewhere too far away to properly protect you is irresponsible, given the fact that it's already hard enough on her to do that given her current ranking. Placing yourself in the Fuhrer's chair will put a much bigger target on your back than before. She'll want to do everything she can in order to block that target."

"I think she doesn't realize how much I want to stop her from doing that to the extent that she does it now," Mustang commented as he stood up, opening his eyes and walking in front of his desk, standing directly in front of her and looking her in the eyes. Riza never could get herself used to the way he intimately looked at her like that. He was never good at hiding his emotions, and she could see each and every emotion dancing in his eyes, the worry, the respect, the adirmation, but most of all, she could see fear. "Every time she does that my heart jumps up to my throat and sometimes it's so bad I feel like I can't breathe, because I know she sees her own life as less valuable than mine and she's proven that time and time again when her life is invaluable to me, and irreplaceable. Sometimes I fear that this time is the time that will get her killed. I would never tell her to stop doing her job, but I sure as hell would like her to put herself above my own damn safety sometimes. I almost lost her in Ishval, on the Promised Day, and so many times in between, before, and after. So I want it to be very clear that if she's going to protect me, then I'm going to protect her in anyway I can. Whether that means assigning her a protection detail or standing in front of a knife myself." His mind flashed to a knife against a throat, dragging across as blood spurted out. He gently placed his hands on Riza's shoulders, gripping them. "I won't let anything like that happen to her again. Just because things have been peaceful so far doesn't mean that other things won't come. If they do come, I'll be ready and I will protect her, even if she turns me down, because that's just how much she means to me."

"Sir," she smiled up at him, "I don't think she could ever say no, because she feels the exact same way about you."

"Oh really?" Mustang smirked, gently placing his hands underneath her chin and lifting her face up. "So then if I were to ask that person to marry me right now, you know that they would say yes, even after how long they've known me? When they've seen the worst of my, my bad habits, my frustration, my anger, all of it?"

"Sir she would've left a long time ago if any of that bothered her," Riza replied. "She's been with you since the beginning, she's not leaving now." He smiled, closing his eyes and letting go of her chin, letting his forehead touch hers.

"Somewhere deep down, I think I already knew that."

* * *

Running up and down the halls of Central Command were two young children, a boy with golden hair and matching eyes eyes, holding a centipede as he chased a younger girl with short blonde hair and obsidian eyes eyes.

"Stop it," she whined as she kept running. "I hate bugs stop!"

"Not until you admit you stole my snack time cookies," he declared. "Come on Chris I know it was you!"

"I didn't," she yelled back, taking a turn and running straight into someone's legs. She made a noise as she landed on her butt, rubbing her head before looking up at the person she ran into and smiling brightly. "Daddy!" She hide behind him, clinging to his leg, a tear in her eye. "Make Maes stop chasing me with the creepy leggy bug!"

"Come back here Chris," yelled out Maes as he came around the corner before stopping and gulping. "Hi Mister Fuhrer Mustang Sir!" Fuhrer Mustang glared down at Maes, one daughter hiding behind his leg, the other cradled on his other side. Behind him were two military armed guards, who now had their guns out and pointed at Maes.

"Why are you chasing Chris with a centipede?"

"She stole my snack time cookie," he shot back. "Mommy made them just for me!"

"You mean this cookie," asked Mustang as he pointed at the very young child on his hip, eating a chocolate chip cookie, much to Maes's dismay.

" _ **My cookie!**_ "

"I told you I didn't do it," said Chris, pulling down one of her eyelids and sticking her tongue out as the guards put away their guns.

" _ **Well how was I supposed to know that Elizabeth ate it,**_ " asked Maes with a glare. "I didn't even know she was old enough to eat cookies! My little sister isn't eating my cookies!"

"What's going on over here," asked Edward Elric as he walked towards them with a frown, an infant girl on his hip with blonde hair and blue eyes. "I left you guys in the garden alone for five minutes while I went to change Sarah."

"Daddy, Elizabeth ate my cookie," he whined as he went over to his father.

"Maes, I understand you're upset, but Mommy's gonna have cookies when we get home, okay?" Edward smiled, gently leaning down and ruffling his hair. "If you want we can go to the bakery and grab some with the Colonel's money if you apologize to Elizabeth and get rid of that centipede!"

"That's Fuhrer to you Fullmetal," said Mustang with a twitching eye. "Besides, I thought we were here to plan out your trip to Fleurli to study their alchemy, not go sweets shopping with kids you weren't supposed to bring."

"And we can talk about my upcoming trip to Fleurli," said Edward with a grin as he stood back up, standing at the same height as the Fuhrer, "but did you honestly expect me to leave my kids with Winry? She's got orders coming out of her wazoo, and I don't really have much going on right now. Besides, your daughter did eat my son's cookie, didn't he? We alchemists live by the law of equivalent exchange, which means you give me the money to replace the cookie."

"You can't even use your alchemy anymore," sighed Mustang, "but fine. Why don't you take the kids and a detail? I have some paperwork I need to get through anyway."

"Sure," said Edward with a smile as he extended one hand, letting Mustang dig into his pocket for his wallet and hand it to Chris. "You sure do have a good taste in cookies, don't you Elizabeth?"

"Oogie," said Elizabeth, trying to repeat him.

"Make sure Fullmetal doesn't spend too much of Daddy's money, okay sweetie," asked Mustang to his daughter, getting on one knee and ruffling her hair gently.

"I promise Daddy!" She ran to Edward and gently grabbed onto his pant leg.

"We'll be back soon," Edward promised as he turned around, walking off with the four kids, two of them on each hip. Mustang sighed, shaking his head with a smile.

"Fullmetal is always trying to get things out of me," he sighed out before turning around, walking with his guards and Elizabeth on his hip. "Come on sweetie, time to spend time with Mama."

"Mama," giggled out Elizabeth. He started walking, the two military personnel following him. Soon, he found himself at the door leading to a conference room. Without bothering to knock, he opened the door to see a meeting with Generals wrapping up. Once they all saw him, they all stood up and saluted. "No need to stand and salute. I thought the meeting was wrapping up."

"We were just now ending it," said one of the generals, collecting up some papers. "It's really nothing for you to concern yourself with Fuhrer Mustang."

"I was just coming to see someone during the end of the meeting," he replied. "If you were leaving you're all dismissed." The military officers nodded and started walking out. After all, you do as the Fuhrer asked. However, General Riza stayed put, walking over to him with a smile and holding out her arms as two officers walked behind her.

"Mama," said Elizabeth happily as she practically jumped into the woman's arms.

"Why do you have crumbs on your face Elizabeth," she asked with a frown, wiping them off as Mustang chuckled.

"She managed to find a cookie meant for one of Fullmetal's kids," he answered. "Needless to say he's making me pay for it. I sent Chris with him to make sure he didn't spend too much money."

"A smart choice," said Riza as she looked fondly at her daughter. Mustang gave a wave of his hand to his and Riza's detail.

"You're all free to go," he said. "I want some privacy with my family." The four nodded and left, pulling the door behind them. "So, you have the day free don't you?"

"I do," she replied with a playful smile, "but are you sure you don't want to go out on a date with someone? I hear you and General Armstrong are currently seeing each other behind my back."

"Man, are the tabloids at it again," he asked with a sigh, fingers running through his hair as if it were actually troubling him. "You get a bad reputation as a young officer and it sticks with you for life." He smirked, dropping his hand. "Not that it matters since none of it is true anyway." He put and arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. "After all, you've always been the only one I'd ever look at twice General Mustang."

"Getting a little romantic at work are we," she teased. "I thought it was strictly business in Central Command."

"I'm calling you by your title aren't I?" She couldn't help but give a small chuckle at that. "Besides, can't let anyone think that maybe you're feeling lonely when I'm working. Don't want to give them any ideas."

"I can handle myself," she reminded him as she pulled away. "I am a general now."

"That's what I'm afraid of," he said. "I'm afraid you're gonna shoot them."

"Oot," repeated Elizabeth with a yawn, Mustang following suit.

"Looks like someone could use a nap," Riza noted. "And I don't just mean Elizabeth."

"Only if you'll come with me," Mustang teased, causing Riza to just sigh and shake her head.

"You're hopeless sir." Still, she smiled at him. "After I put Elizabeth down, alright?"

"Alright, if you give me a kiss now." She rolled her eyes at him, but leaned forward to give him a small kiss. He smiled, placing a hand under her chin and another arm around her waist. They stayed like that for a few moments before both glancing at the slightly ajar door.

"Think they ran off," she asked with a smirk.

"Probably," Mustang replied with a chuckle. "You know how Chris hates seeing that public affection kind of stuff."

"She is definitely your daughter."

 **Song Of Hope: So, ode to my favorite FMA ship! I hope you guys enjoyed the story! Please leave some reviews!**


End file.
